The "outer building" surrounding Unit 3 of Fukushima I explodes, presumably due to the ignition of built up hydrogen gas, on March 13, 2011. This is the reactor which has the extremely dangerous plutonium-laced MOX fuel. State of the nuclear reactor core remains unknown... (photo enhanced for contrast and enlargement with several layers of noise, sharpening and blurring)

Situation Critical

I have to say that (higher level meltdown or not) this is an extremely terrible event which will have major consequences for Japan, the entire Pacific Region, and the entire world over the coming days, weeks, years, decades... Do not believe otherwise.

i have not yet heard of catastrophic meltdown, but there is potential for world-wide and apocalyptic consequence in this...

Japan Raises Danger Level at Power Plant
New York Times, Science | Environment -By raising the level of the crisis at the Fukushima nuclear power station to 5 on a scale of 1 to 7, Japan’s nuclear safety agency on Friday gave it a ranking equal to that of the Three Mile Island accident of 1979. Only two events rank higher, including the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, the only accident to be rated a 7... Yet the consensus among nuclear safety experts outside Japan is that the situation there is already worse than Three Mile Island, where a partial fuel meltdown at one reactor was contained with a relatively small release of radioactivity.

"Underestimating the Seriousness of the Problem": Experts Urge Japan to Raise Nuclear Alert Level and Evacuate Wider Area
Democracy Now! - The Japanese nuclear crisis worsens as Japanese authorities race to cool the overheating reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station. Earlier today, Japan raised the nuclear alert level at the crippled plant from a four to a five, on par with Three Mile Island. This decision has shocked many nuclear experts. “Our experts think that it’s a level 6.5 already, and it’s on the way to a seven, which was Chernobyl," says Philip White of the Citizens’ Nuclear Information Center in Tokyo. We also speak with Dr. Ira Helfand of Physicians for Social Responsibility about the long-term health effects from radiation exposure from Fukushima. [includes rush transcript]

• Unit 1: Coolant within Unit 1 is covering about half of the fuel rods in the reactor, leading to fuel damage. High pressure within the reactor's containment led operators to vent gas from the containment. Later,
an explosion destroyed the outer shell of the reactor building above the containment on 12 March. There are no indications of problems with either the reactor pressure vessel or the primary containment vessel. Efforts to pump seawater into the reactor core are continuing.
On 18 March, Japan assigned an INES rating of 5 to this unit. (Further information on the ratings and the INES scale on the website).

• Unit 2: Coolant within Unit 2 is covering about half of the fuel rods in the reactor, leading to fuel damage. Following an explosion on 15 March, Japanese officials expressed concerns that the reactor's containment may not be fully intact. NISA officials reported on 18 March that white smoke continues to emerge from the building. Efforts to pump seawater into the reactor core are continuing.
On 18 March, Japan assigned an INES rating of 5 to this unit.

• Unit 3: Coolant within Unit 3 is covering about half of the fuel rods in the reactor, leading to fuel damage. High pressure within the reactor's containment led operators to vent gas from the containment. Later, an explosion destroyed the outer shell of the reactor building above the containment on 14 March. Following the explosion, Japanese officials expressed concerns that the reactor's containment may not be fully intact. NISA officials reported on 18 March that white smoke continues to emerge from the building. Efforts to pump seawater into the reactor core are continuing.
Of additional concern at Unit 3 is the condition of the spent fuel pool in the building. There are indications that there is an inadequate cooling water level in the pool, and Japanese authorities have addressed the problem by dropping water from helicopters into the building and spraying water from trucks. On 18 March, Japanese Self Defence Forces used seven fire trucks to continue spraying efforts. There is no data on the temperature of the water in the pool.
On 18 March, Japan assigned an INES rating of 5 to this unit.

• Unit 4: All fuel had been removed from the reactor core for routine maintenance before the earthquake and placed into the spent fuel pool. A portion of the building's outer shell was damaged by the explosion at Unit 3 on 14 March, and there have been two reported fires - possibly including one in the spent fuel pool on 15 March -- that extinguished spontaneously, although smoke remained visible on 18 March. Authorities remain concerned about the condition of the spent fuel pool.
On 18 March, Japan assigned an INES rating of 4 to this site.

• Units 5 and 6: Shut down before the earthquake, there are no immediate concerns about these reactors' cores or containment. Instrumentation from both spent fuel pools, however, has shown gradually increasing temperatures. Officials have configured two diesel generators at Unit 6 to power water circulation in the spent fuel pools and cores of Units 5 and 6. Workers have opened holes in the roofs of both buildings to prevent the possible accumulation of hydrogen, which is suspected of causing explosions at other units. Restoration of Grid Progress has been achieved in restoring external power to the nuclear power plant, although it remains uncertain when full power will be available.

Japan sends robots into Fukushima nuclear plant
...designed to operate at radiation levels too high for humans. The 1.5-metre robot runs on a pair of caterpillar tracks and has a manipulator arm for removing obstacles and collecting samples. Sensors include a radiation detector, 3D camera system and temperature and humidity sensors. It can be operated remotely from a distance of about a kilometre. [It] weighs some 600 kilos and is limited to a speed of 2.4 kilometres per hour. It has to carry heavy shielding because many electronics, especially cameras, are highly vulnerable to the effects of radiation.

Union of Concerned ScientistsJapan Nuclear Power Crisis: Daily Telephone Media Briefings
In response to a tremendous volume of requests from national and international media, technical and policy experts from the Union of Concerned Scientists have commenced daily telephone briefings (as of Monday, March 14, 2011) on the Japan nuclear power crisis.

US - Pacific "West Coast" fallout updateRadioactive fallout confirmed on US West Coast

Pacific Storm track bringing fallout to North America, but the severity said to be insignificant - all this acknowledging that no amount of contamination is good at all; and that, especially locally in Japan and the Northern Eastern Pacific, this is surely of historic, possibly catastrophic, proportion.

authorities say the level (miniscule) is and will be "safe," but don't take their word for it. alternative views maintain that no level of exposure is safe - its a numbers game (i guess you would have to ask those certain few individuals who fell within the percentage and actually did develop cancer and genetic damage some number of years from now)

As of [4:00 PM 1600 PDT FRIDAY MARCH]: rad levels on the North American West Coast may not warrant Iodine therapy - however: should a full-blown meltdown (or 4) become the reality, it would be wise to consider. I will continue to post updates as I can.

No threat to US as 'miniscule' amount of radiation detected
A RADIATION monitor in California has detected a "minuscule" amount of an isotope from Japan's crippled nuclear power plant but California Governor Jerry Brown insisted it posed no threat.
"As this very tragic situation in Japan unfolds, I want Californians to know that we are closely monitoring any potential impact on our state," Governor Brown said. "I also want to emphasise that there is no threat to the people of California due to radiation in Japan."
In the first confirmation of radioactivity having reached the US mainland, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said the monitor in Sacramento had detected "miniscule quantities of the radioactive isotope xenon-133."

from Update 2:00 PM 1400 PDT THURSDAY MARCH 17 -Animated map shows radioactive material's path across Pacific toward California
LA Times, Local: As The Times' Ralph Vartabedian reported, small amounts of radioactive isotopes from the quake-crippled Japanese nuclear power plant are being blown toward North America. Though they could reach California by Friday, officials said they see no health danger and stressed that any radiation reaching here would be well within safe limits.

re IODINE THERAPY - -Iodine therapy unnecessary: B.C. officials
CBC NEWS Canada (cbc.ca): "The consumption of iodide tablets is not a necessary precaution as there is no current risk of radiological I131 exposure. Even if radiation from Japan ever made it to British Columbia, our prediction based on current information is that it would not pose any significant health risk." - provincial health officer Dr. Perry Kendall on March 14

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Einstein said,
"The splitting
of the atom
changed everything
save man's mode
of thinking;
thus we drift towards
unparalleled catastrophe."
He also said,
"Nuclear power is a hell of a way
to boil water!"

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